To the Heart : Miracles of Love
by Cherie
Summary: The season to be merry... they learned how to give, how to love, and how to forgive. This Christmas, miracles were cast upon them... And even the coldness of winter couldn't beat the warm feeling of being loved... Blech, bad summary. Just read it. M/F,


Cherie's Rants:

Yep, another fanfic of mine -__-;; Gawd!  This fanfic is set about 3-4 years after the UBS *opens a blue notebook* Here we go.  The details…hmm, we have a hell lot of pairings here *grin*.  And, weirdly, we have the Christmas season, minna!!!  Yep, yep, yep, Christmas.  I know it's still May, wha-hey, it's not really that important, ne?  Christmas fic.  I wanted to wait till December, but it's still…what?  6, 7 months away??  Grrr… *mumble mumble*  Ah, before I go all crazy and rant forever, here we go.  Enjoy, don't forget to R&R!!!  Hey…what if I use "To the Heart" in some of my other fanfics…hmm…what do you think?

Disclaimer: Whoops…almost forgot ^0^;; Standard disclaimers apply.

**To the Heart : Miracles of Love **

++ a flame of recca Christmas special ++

_All through the year we've waited_

_Waited through spring and fall_

_To hear silver bells ringing, see winter time bringing_

_The happiest season of all_

_Chestnuts roasting on an open fire_

_Jackfrost__ nipping at your nose_

_Yuletide carols being sung by a choir_

_And folks dressed up like Eskimos_

_Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe_

_Will help to make the season bright_

_And tiny tots with their eyes all aglow_

_Will find it hard to sleep tonight, night_

_They know that Santa's on his way_

_He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh_

_And every mother's child is going to spy_

_To see if reindeer really know how to fly_

_And so I'm offering this simple phrase_

_To kids from one to ninety-two_

_Though it's been said many times, many ways_

_Merry Christmas, to you_

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**::**** prelude ::**

**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

          Hey guys!" A chestnut haired girl opened the door to a coffee shop.  "Guess what I found in the mail today?" She asked her friends who were sitting in a big booth by the corner.

          A boy with jet-black, messy hair answered cheerfully, "What, hime?  A pig?  Did you find a pig in your mailbox this morning?  'Cause I've been dreaming of pigs lately."  The others sweatdropped.  

          "Hmm…a box of crayons?" guessed a little girl of twelve with pigtails.  

          "Oh, oh!  I know!!  A chain letter with scary terrors inside!" piped another one up.

          It was a fine, lovely winter morning.  The Hokage gang sat on their usual booth in the coffee shop, as the rooftop was inaccessible due to the winter holidays.  Domon was too busy pigging out on his waffles to answer the healer's question.

          "Err…no.  All of your answers are wrong." replied Sakoshita Yanagi, smiling sheepishly.

          "Oops." Koganei Kaoru grinned, showing off his famous fangs.                                                   

          "Then what is it, Yanagi-neechan?" asked Morikawa Ganko, the girl in pigtails.                           

          Yanagi smiled brightly, and said, "I found an invitation!"

          "Invitation, hime?" recited Hanabishi Recca, "What for?"

          "Well, I haven't read it, because I was too excited to show you guys.  But all I know is, the invitation came from the Uruha."                                                                                                     

          "Wait." Domon looked up from his waffles, his mouth smudged with honey.  "Don't tell me.  Another invitation to another UBS."

          fter the death of Mori Kouran, the rest of the Uruha and Hokage became friends.  Kurei and Raiha would often teach Recca and Domon some gentlemen manners, much to Fuuko's relief as she was getting very tired of Domon's constant wailing.  Neon and the girls would go shopping to the mall and gossip all night long.  It all seemed like the conflict between the Hokage and Uruha had never existed at all.

          Yanagi shook her head.  "Iie.  The invitation's got pretty pine tree decorations and mistletoes and-"

          "Oh, okay." The big guy returned to what he was doing.  Pigging out.  "Hey, Ganko-chan, are you going to eat that?" He pointed to the bright-haired girl's half-empty plate.

          Ganko wrinkled her nose.  "Eew, no.  I always lose my appetite whenever I see you eat."

          Shrugging, Domon swallowed Ganko's left-over pancakes and finished by licking the green plate.  "Delicious, yummy yummy yum.  Hanabishi, we should eat here more often."

          "Yuck, Domon, you make me sick." commented Recca, also wrinkling his nose.

          "Carols already?  Christmas is still a week away," Koganei said to no one in particular, remarking to the coffee shop's entertainers.

          It was only the 18th of December, but almost everybody was already excited.  The coffee shop owner himself had hired a singer to sing classic carols.  Shops and stores had begun the Christmas sale, cafés and restaurants had put on the hollies and other Christmas decorations.                                       

          Yanagi smiled good-naturedly.  "I know.  It's sweet, isn't it?  I can't wait till Christmas arrives."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          He turned off the heater.  As he was the water wielder, he could survive more than a mere winter.  Closing his textbook, the silver-haired man glanced at his opened window.  He could faintly hear children's giggles and the carolers crooning outside.

          **Christmas…once again.******

****

          "Matthew!  Lucy!" A motherly voice called out.  "Want some hot chocolate?"

          The children's giggles halted for a short while, it seemed like the bearers of the laughter were thinking.  "Yes, mom!  I want some marshmallows too!" A boy's voice replied cheerfully.

          Mikagami Tokiya sighed.  Hot chocolate with some marshmallows was exactly what he needed at the moment.  He entered the kitchen and opened the wooden cupboard by the counter, taking out his favored blue-green mug.  Pouring the hot water, he silently listened to the carolers, finding peaceful bliss in their songs.

          Outside, colorful Christmas lamps hung on wooden poles.  The lights were flickering, and their beams made the snow look like an ethereal rainbow.  It was purely beautiful.

          He sipped his drink slowly and silently.

          It had been two years since he moved to the US, leaving the rest of Hokage behind.  His reason was that he had been accepted in one of the finest, most well-known university there.  After all, they didn't really complain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          "So?  What're you waiting for?  Open the invitation, Yanagi-neechan!" Ganko shot her puppy dog eyes.

          The healer shook her head slowly, looking to different directions and glancing at every corner of the coffee shop.  Obviously she was looking for someone.  "Ano…where's Fuuko?"

          "Beats me," Recca answered, drinking what was left of his root-beer float in a single gulp.  "Haven't seen her all morning.  Wow, I shouldn't order a cold drink in winter next time.  I'm freezing right now."

          "I'm worried." remarked Yanagi.  "She has been so distant these days."

          "Don't worry, hime.  Fuuko can take care of herself.  Now just open the invitation!" Recca winked at his master who was smiling genuinely.

          Nodding, she answered, "Hai."

          She pulled out a neatly folded card from inside the envelope.  Flipping it over, Yanagi read the contents carefully.  The rest just stared at the card.

          "Oh!" Yanagi gasped.

          "Oh what?  'Oh' what??" Ganko beamed very excitedly.

          "A Christmas party!  They want us—the whole Hokage—to come to a Christmas celebration on December 25th.  Party starts 6 pm sharp, at the Uruha Mansion."  The healer explained.  

          Koganei grinned.  "Cool!  Two thumbs up, up, up, way up!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          A dog's bark snapped him out of his short reverie.  "Mail for Mr. Mikagami!" Shortly after that, a knock on the front door of his apartment could be heard.

          Mikagami frowned.  He usually had to come down and pick up the mail by himself.  Opening the door, he took the letter inside.  **The Uruha stamp.  No wonder.  He pulled out a beige card and read it.**

          "A party?" He frowned again.  Just then, a small "CLICK!" told him that he had a new email in his inbox.  Mikagami sat down in front of his computer and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the sender's ID.  **Kirisawa Fuuko. He clicked the message to read it, the invitation still in his left hand.**

"_Oi!  Mikagami-han!!  Joker here!  We're just making sure that you ARE coming to OUR PARTY, this Christmas.  Say yes, or else suffer the curse of JOKER-SAMA!!  Which is: You'll get bombarded by spam and your back will itch for a hell eternity.  Love love love, your sweet and cute Joker."_

          He stared at the computer screen as if it had grown a green beard, his brows twitching.  **What are they up to now?  ****And how did they get my email address anyway?  **

          Mikagami snorted.  "So much for a peaceful Christmas."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          "We should tell Fuuko about this." said Yanagi.

          "Yep." Recca answered, bobbing his head, "Let's drop by her house, hime.  I wanna borrow her new Playstation game, gotta practice.  Don't wanna lose to Saicho again." 

          The chestnut haired girl giggled good-naturedly, while Koganei just teased the firecaster.  "Aaw, Recca-niichan!  Why practice?  You can't get any better…you really really suck on video games."

          "I do not!  I only need some more practice…err…uh, my fingers are very awkward, you know!"

          "Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm the queen of England."

          Domon nodded, "He's right, y'know.  I've beaten you a gazillion times on Tekken."

          "Oh, shut up, you big gorilla."

          "I wonder what Santa's gonna give me this year?" Ganko asked herself.  "Yanagi-neechan, what did you get last year?"

          "Me?  Uh…I think I got a box of very pretty accessories…"

          Recca blushed as he remembered when he had to beg for Fuuko's help in finding the right Christmas gift for his hime last year.  They ended up fighting in front of the department store, Recca going for a female ninja costume and Fuuko for boxing gloves.  Eventually, a salesman offered them a box of girl accessories which made the two of them frown and wrinkle their noses.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          "Come in, Yanagi!  Door's unlocked!" Kirisawa Fuuko called out.  The doorknob was turned, and then Yanagi and Recca came in, the latter whistling "Jingle Bells".

          "You know, Fuuko, your place is rather messy.  You should clean up, Christmas is coming." The healer said matter-of-factly, all the while looking at a big pile of junk lying by the corner.

          Fuuko sighed, "Hai, hai, okaa-sama…but I just moved in two weeks ago.  You know I'm a lazy slug, Yanagi."

          Kirisawa Fuuko—now in the age of nineteen—had decided to move out from her parents' house, saying that she had found a place closer to the university (surprisingly, she made it through high school with pretty good grades) and that she had to learn to live on her own.  Her current "home-sweet-home" was a medium-sized apartment in the 7th level of a tall building, located in the middle of Tokyo.  And she had to admit…the current state of her residence was *not* really tidy.  Not at all.

          "Well, your place should be nice and tidy by the time Christmas arrives.  You wouldn't want to see your tree hidden behind all these boxes," said Yanagi.

          "Oh, screw Christmas." muttered Fuuko, "I don't have time for that.  And, uh, Yanagi, Recca, why don't you find something to drink?  I'm sorry to be so impolite to guests, but I must unpack these… things.  I only have Pepsi and some lemon tea… just take anything you want from the fridge."

          Recca whistled, "Boy, Domon would regret not coming here, eh?"

          "Fuuko!" The other girl said, "Don't say that.  Christmas is the best season of all, the season to be happy, merry, jolly… You don't want your face to be all creased up on Christmas, do you?"

          "Whatever," replied Fuuko, not-so-excited at all.  "You're exaggerating, Yanagi."

          Yanagi sighed.  "Fuuko, what's wrong?  You don't look so good."

          "Gomen ne, Yanagi, I'm just…well, tired." The wind wielder answered exasperatedly.  "Help me get rid of all these junks, would you?"

          Recca glanced at the stacks of brown boxes, scattered all over the place.  By one corner, he could see magazines dispersed, and by another corner, a pretty big box full of cassettes and CDs was visible.  In the middle of the living room, a Styrofoam lunchbox laid on the coffee table.  He assumed it was Fuuko's lunch.  "Hey Fuuko," he began, "Which box has the Playstation games?"

          "I think they're in my bedroom.  What're you up to anyway?"

          "Ooh, nothing…" He wandered off, "Just want to try out the new game…"

          The flamecaster opened Fuuko's bedroom door, only to see two Uruhas, one meddling with the blue computer and the other playing stuff and boxes.

          "Oi, Recca-han!" Joker grinned, "Are you helping Fuuko-han too?  Hey, Neon-han, lookie!  Fuuko-han has Counter Strike installed!"

          "Yea, yea, whatever." Neon opened a big maroon plastic box.  "Hey, what's this?"

          "You don't seem to be helping." Recca stated matter-of-factly, "Especially you, Hiroji."

          Joker managed to throw a yellow beach ball at the newcomer.  He clicked the mouse a few times before wailing, "Fuuko-haaan!  What's the password to your Neopet account?  I can't find it in the list of passwords in your notebook hereee!"

          Outside, the wind wielder arched an eyebrow and quickly dashed into her bedroom.  "WHAT'RE YOU DOING, ODOKEMONO HIROJI?!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**__**

          "B-b-b-but…" Joker said through faked sobs, "I just wanted to play with your virtual pet… I could've earned you some more Neopoints, you know…"

          "That was NOT the point!!"

          "Okay then!  Guess you better leave me alone and go back to your unpacking-"

          "Point is: WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY COMPUTER?!  Who gave you permission to open my PRIVATE notebook and look at my passwords?!" The walnut-haired wind girl screamed right in Joker's pale face.

          Neon piped out, "Hey, I warned him, but he didn't listen." Then she continued shuffling through the pieces of paper inside the maroon box.  Beneath "Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four" and some Agatha Christie's mystery novels, a small light-blue box was revealed.

          "Fuuko-han…I didn't copy your passwords…I only opened your email account and sent a short message to Mikagami-han…" Joker whined.  "And look what Neon-han's doing!  She's opening your private stuffs!"

          Neon flipped through the photographs inside the blue box, "Yanagi and Recca, Yanagi, Yanagi, Recca and Domon, Domon and Koganei, Koganei and Ganko, Ganko and Kondo…What?  Joker and me?!  Grr… oh, the whole Hokage picture after the UBS…eh?  What's this?"

          Fuuko rapidly turned her head to Neon's direction and leaped, making a sudden grasp for the last picture.  She landed right beside the Fukyo Waon master, grabbing the picture and scrunched it up.  "Don't EVER open this box again, okay?" She slid the ruffled photo into her shorts' pocket.

          "Okay, okay… I'm sorry." Neon raised her hands to eye-level, to stress her apology.  "What's in it anyway?  Seems that it's pretty confidential."

          "It is.  And Joker, who told you to OPEN MY EMAIL ACCOUNT?!  And from all the people, why must you send it to MIKAGAMI?!" Fuuko yelled at the shaking Joker.

          The latter thought for a while.  "Uh…cause I wanna?"

          Yanagi's brown orbs flashed a look of concern.  "You're still mad at him, aren't you?" She asked the wind wielder.

          "…"

          "Fuuko, I suggest you go to Uruha's Christmas party next week.  You can forget about Mikagami-sempai, at least for one night, and have a little fun.  C'mon, Fuuko-chan…onegai??" She shot her friend the well-known puppydog eyes.

          Seeing her _best friend plead, Fuuko had no other choice than to nod.  "But I'm not promising you anything, okay?"_

          "Haaai!!"

          Joker sweatdropped.  An inner battle ensued inside him… he had forced Mikagami to come to the party… how could Fuuko forget about him now?  If he told her, the girl would choke him to death and maybe even worse… but if he didn't… uh-oh.  **This is noooo good.  Poor ol' Joker-chan.**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cherie's Other Rants:

A-ha!  Cliffhanger!!!  What had happened between Fuuko and Tokiya?  I'll leave that to yourselves, for now.  I will get back to that in a few more chapters.  Okay, for the first chapter, I'll give ya a nice dish (I hope) of Koganei/Ganko!!  How does that sound to you?  Hints of ReYa will also appear, hihihihihi *giggles freakily*.  Now just gimme your reviews, will ya?  I assure you, the first chapter of this fic will come out soon enough.  Silent Hope readers, please wait for a while.  Big case of writer's block, you see.  The song above is the classic carol, "The Christmas Song".  Ooh, I just luvluvluv Christmas ^__^ nyo!  *infected by Dejiko-chan*  'Kay now!  Keep R&R-ing!  Oh yeah, if you spotted some mistakes, do tell me.  I haven't got time to edit, I'm in a hurry.  Just bought Cal's new manga ^0^ Nice one, Cal!!  Uh…looking for a beta-reader here?

Glitterz,

Cherie


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